City Beat Confidential: Homeless laundry Orange Sky goes off the grid

Eight years after founding the world’s first mobile laundry and shower service for the homeless, Orange Sky is going off the grid in a big way.

Eight years after founding the world’s first mobile laundry and shower service for the homeless, Orange Sky is going off the grid.

The Brisbane-based not-for-profit organisation is upgrading its fleet of 28 vans to reduce their carbon footprint, replacing diesel generators with solar-powered equipment and battery banks. Orange Sky, which now operates in 28 locations across Australia and New Zealand, was founded in 2014 by school mates Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett (illustrated) to improve hygiene standards for the 116,000 people experiencing homelessness across the country. Marchesi says Covid, the rise in the cost of living and the housing crisis, meant more Australians are struggling more than ever.

“We are the busiest we have ever been,” says Marchesi. “Our volunteers are seeing more people, experiencing homelessness and people struggling financially than we’ve ever seen in our eight years.” He says the increased demand on the service means Orange Sky’s laundry vans need to be more reliable, easier to use and better for the environment.

Orange Sky also has introduced the Waru Dryer - what it claims is the world’s first clothes dryer to use fuel-powered air heaters and solar powered batteries.

The move to renewable sources for the vans will reduce electrical consumption by up to 90 per cent per shift and greenhouse gases by up to 70 per cent, saving more than an estimated 161 tonnes of carbon over a 12 month period. Marchesi says the goal is to triple Orange Sky’s impact and help 40,000 people by 2025.

Orange Sky co-founders Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett

Orange Sky co-founder Lucas Patchett says the homeless problem has increasingly migrated from inner city areas to the outer suburbs as more young families struggled to make ends meet. “There are still people sleeping rough in places like Fortitude Valley and Spring Hill, but we have seen a lot of growth in outer areas like Caboolture,” says Patchett. “And when you think of homelessness, it is not just the person you see sleeping rough on the way to work but couch surfing and housing insecurity. If we can help with washing or a shower, it can really help reduce the family budget for the week.”

Orange Sky currently does 300 shifts a week with 2500 volunteers doing 1700 loads of washing. The group is now offering services in remote and regional areas, including to Indigenous communities in the Kimberley, Western Australia.

“We are working with Indigenous communities to improve their health outcomes to combat diseases like trachoma,” says Patchett.

He says Orange Sky still sees lots of growth providing services in Australasia and is launching new ideas, including setting up standalone laundromats in regional cities. “We are already working in places like Toowoomba and Dalby,” he says.

Patchett and Marchesi, who met and became best mates at St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace in Spring Hill, were raised in families with strong social consciences, and volunteered with charities helping the homeless throughout school and beyond.

Patchett was studying for a Bachelor of Engineering and Commerce at the University of Queensland and Marchesi was working as a business development consultant and television cameraman, when they came up with the mobile laundry concept.

The name for the group comes from British indie-folk musician Alexi Murdoch’s song Orange Sky, describing brothers and sisters supporting each other.

Along the way former US president Barack Obama and wife Michelle became fans, meeting Marchesi in 2019 when he joined their intensive leadership program, while Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall became their first British volunteer during her 2018 visit to Queensland.